High school should allow open note tests

 Having to take a test is bound to happen during a student’s time in high school. Teachers use tests to check their students’ understanding of the content they teach. Though, in reality, tests force students to memorize the content instead of learning it. Having open note tests can be more beneficial for high school students.  

In elementary school people learn the basic concepts that they build on in their education journey. If students get a higher education after high school, the information they learn there will be focused on their career. They would need quick access to it. Those are instances where memorizing is more necessary in the beginning. The issue with high school content is that students rush to memorize the information for the test and then soon forget about it because it is often not mentioned again. This is where open note tests become beneficial.  

Writing notes is often not seen as an enjoyable task, so when students are told that they can’t be used on tests some people just don’t take them. If tests were open note it would push more people to write them down, because they become more useful. Being able to find a specific piece of information surrounded by more information is a skill and notes help strengthen that. Most things that are taught in high school can be looked up on the internet with ease. Schools are not accepting that the internet is a tool that the present and future generations will be able to use. So, if someone forgets the quadratic equation or the year the Scarlet Letter was written, they can look it up quickly.  

Tests now are more about how quickly someone can memorize information than how well the information is known. There may be some hesitation for tests to be open note because people may believe that students will not learn anything, but that is wrong. The act of taking notes or filling out a reading guide makes at least some of the information seep into the brain. While taking an open note test, students will still need some knowledge of the content because the time provided for tests is often not long enough to search for the answer to every question. Having open notes allows students to feel less anxious about tests and be able to focus their energy on understanding rather than memorizing.  

Of course, tests are not the only way to judge students’ understanding. A great way for teachers to see how well students understand the content is doing projects. Projects and open note tests are similar in the way that they allow students to use the information they have been provided to prove their understanding. So, if projects are an acceptable way to judge students’ knowledge why not open note tests?  

Students will learn the content and have a great resource to look back on. If teachers expect students to sit in a forty-five minute or longer class taking notes, then they should be able to use them on tests.